Tracking Technology-Related Legislation

March 8, 2005

(Photo courtesy of Legislative Research Committee) Rep. Steve Nunn, R-Glasgow, presents a bill to streamline the state's health care delivery system using an electronic data network in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

As Kentucky's General Assembly winds down for the 2005 session, Techlines has been keeping an eye on some bills that feature technology. Whether they win passage or get passed over is still to be determined, but here is a snapshot as of March 8, 2005:

Senate Bill 2 (SB 2) Electronic Health NetworkAs of March 8, 2005, this bill is awaiting Gov. Fletcher's signature. It calls for the development of a statewide program to reduce medical costs and improve health care by establishing the Kentucky Health Care Infrastructure Authority, a joint venture between the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. The program would investigate ways to use information technology and other means to improve health care. The authority is also aimed at implementing pilot projects to improve patient care and control costs.

The bill would also establish the Kentucky e-Health Network, an electronic resource that would help doctors and other health care providers gain access to patient information. The move would allow for better treatment of patients, with the goal of reducing medical errors and overall health care costs.

"This bill could make Kentucky a national model in the field of sharing health care information," said Rep. Robin Webb, D-Grayson. "It could help lower Medicaid costs, improve the quality of health care and provide a lot of high-tech research jobs."

House Bill 343 (HB 343) Internet PharmaciesHB 343 hasn't quite made it to Gov. Fletcher's desk yet for his signature. If it does, Kentucky will join only two other states who are currently restricting how Internet pharmacies can do business with their state. The bill requires Internet pharmacies to have a permit to operate in Kentucky and to obey Kentucky pharmacy laws. The bill also specifies permitted and prohibited acts for Internet pharmacies and how prescriptions for Internet pharmacies are to be filled. The bill, sponsored by Kentucky's Attorney General Greg Stumbo, is in part a response to the widely publized abuse of drugs like Oxycontin in eastern Kentucky. In a related move, FedEx recently announced it would no longer ship packages from online pharmacies to areas of eastern Kentucky where drug abuse has been pervasive.

House Bill 512 (HB 512) Kentucky Data Research InitiativeThis bill creates the Kentucky data research initiative, a partnership between elementary and secondary schools and postsecondary research institutions to better utilize computer systems throughout the state. The purposes of the data research initiative are to expand the availability of computing resources not available at the research institutions at a relatively low cost, to provide education outreach to students and teachers in Kentucky's K-12 system, to expand the research institutions' presence throughout the state, and to maximize the use of computer assets that have already been purchased in K-12 systems but are often under used.

Senate Bill 49 (SB 49) Reorganization BillThis bill is related to the reorganization of the Finance and Administration Cabinet. Among other things, SB-49 would create the Department of Revenue within the Finance and Administration Cabinet, change the name of the Governor's Office for Technology to the Commonwealth Office of Technology, and transfer it from the Office of the Governor to the Finance and Administration Cabinet.